Why Christian Wood needed a second knee surgery, explained

Lets take a closer look at Wood’s latest knee surgery and how concerning it is

Los Angeles Lakers center Christian Wood missed the final two months of last season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Since then, Wood had been going through rehab and ramping up over the summer, with the aim of returning fully healthy for his second season in the purple and gold.

However, in early September, he had to undergo a second arthroscopic knee procedure on that left knee.

Obviously, two procedures on the same knee within seven months isn’t great news. However, specific details can make all the difference in how it might impact Wood heading into this season.

I took a closer look in this video:

It is always tough to gauge procedures and rehabilitation from the outside looking in because of how much information we do not have. Like what happened in early September, you can be feeling really good and then, suddenly, there’s an uptick in pain or a response that doesn’t quite align, which sets off a yellow or red flag with the medical team.

The key for Wood will be continuing with a methodical plan and attacking his rehab. Setbacks and challenges happen, but it’s important to keep your head up and trust the process.

As always, I will keep you updated as we learn more.

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA and partners with Quantum Performance in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training background to rehab & train elite athletes.

He also works at a hospital — giving him experience with patients in the immediate healthcare setting and neurological patients (post stroke, post brain injury) — and has been practicing for over 5 years. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), has a background in youth basketball coaching and analyzes the Lakers from a medical and skills perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.